DAHLONEGA, Ga. --- The Auburn Montgomery baseball team opened up their 2020 campaign with a 12-5 setback to the No. 20 ranked Nighthawks of North Georgia on Friday, Jan. 31. 
 
NOTEWORTHY
- Newcomers Ko Powell, Jackson Gantt, Reid Whitaker, Jaylon Thornton, Jackson Ceman, Tyler Britton, Mario Galloway, Tommy Vickers and Matthew Marfice all made their Warhawk debut in the game.
 
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Quinterrious Arrington led AUM at the plate with a three-hit, three-RBI day. Arrington accounted for an RBI triple and scored a run in the contest.
- Dalton Cobb slugged his first home run of 2020 in the loss, finishing the day with two hits, an RBI and a run scored.
- Zach Feaster and Casey Henderson both added a pair of hits, with Henderson scoring a run and Feaster picking up an RBI.
- Sam Steigert tossed a game-high 3.1 innings of relief out of the bullpen, registering nine ground-ball outs and striking out one.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After stranding a pair of runners in the first, North Georgia chased starter Britton (0-1) by hanging a six-spot on six base hits in inning number two. The Nighthawks used a bases-loaded walk, a double and a pair of two-RBI singles to account for the damage. 
- The Warhawks responded right away, however, scoring four runs their next time up at the top of the third. Arrington got the Warhawks on the board first with a two-RBI triple that plated Powell and Henderson, followed by an RBI groundout from Feaster to score Arrington. Cobb followed suit with a monster solo shot to left-center field to make it a 6-4 game. 
- North Georgia went on to double their lead in inning number five, courtesy of a two-run homer, to lead 8-4. 
- The Nighthawks broke the game open by scoring three runs on just one base hit in inning number seven to lead 11-4. Warhawk pitching issued four walks and a hit batsman in the inning, with all five free passes coming with two outs. 
- After seeing UNG tally their final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth on a bases-loaded walk, the Warhawks scored their final run of the game in the top of the ninth on an Arrington single up the middle to make it 12-5.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Despite being outscored 12-5 AUM was outhit just 14-11 by North Georgia, with four Warhawks logging multi-hit efforts.
- The Warhawk pitching staff handed out 10 free passes in the game, while the Nighthawks gave just three. 
- AUM left eight runners on base, while UNG stranded 12. 
 
UP NEXT
- The Warhawks will take on the Nighthawks in game two of their three-game series on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2:00 p.m (CST).
 
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